1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of emergency rescue. More particularly, the invention pertains to methods and apparatus for stabilizing a roof-resting motor vehicle, such as for access by rescue workers, and for extracting accident victims from the vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
A roof-resting motor vehicle can be a difficult situation for rescue teams, particularly in terms of vehicle stabilization. In any vehicle stabilization effort, quick and simple solutions are desired; time spent on vehicle stabilization is time not spent on victim extrication and patient care. However, what often is overlooked is that most of the known quick and simple techniques for stabilizing a roof-resting vehicle interfere with access to the passenger compartment. Many of these techniques include the step of attaching restraint straps to the rear posts of the vehicle, or running straps across the door up to the undercarriage of the vehicle, thus limiting accident victim extrication options.
Another problem inherent in the stabilization of a roof-resting vehicle is that the locations most desired to place stabilization stands typically are the least conducive to a good purchase. For example, in many situations, the engine weight of the vehicle keeps the nose down and the rear end up, leaving a sloped slippery surface with little for a prop tip to engage. The rear of a typical sedan, for example, provides very few solid locations for stand engagement. Examples of areas that typically lend themselves to purchase include fender light knockouts in fenders, gas fill openings, rear trunk walls, tail light knockouts, and some bumpers or bumper supports. Often one can punch out the rear fender lights, thus leaving a hole in the fender as a purchase point.
Depending on vehicle condition, because of the collision, the presence of rust, and/or vehicle material composition, one may be able to gain a purchase sufficient to remove “play” in the vehicle. However, if vertical support is necessary, this could be a problem with sheet metal or plastic materials, particularly if the fenders provide the only available purchase. If one opens the gas fill door, one may find a good purchase there. Unfortunately, a gas fill door typically is available only on one side of the vehicle (although some models of vehicles have them on two sides, but this is a rare exception). Furthermore, if fuel is leaking, this will have to be addressed also, as setting the metal stand against a metal fender could possibly cause ignition.
The rear trunk wall usually provides a good grip for a channel-type end fitting. However, gaining access to the trunk wall often is difficult, unless the trunk lid is removed. Bumpers are another typical option, but come in many shapes and materials. Some are strong, some are weak. Bumper supports vary considerably as well. One technique, which is very quick to employ, is to place a single stand centered in the rear of the vehicle, in conjunction with step blocking or wedges in front of the ‘A’ posts. This provides three points of stabilization. However, two of the points, the wedges, are low relative to the center of gravity of the vehicle, and do little to increase the vehicle footprint.
Note that a roof-resting vehicle has a much lower center of gravity in comparison with a side-resting vehicle, as well as a wider footprint to start with. The use of wedges does, however, increase good solid ground contact. An advantage to this type of system is that the prop purchase is typically a solid one with the rear trunk wall or a solid bumper, and the base is well restrained. However, there are several disadvantages with this type of system. To restrain the base properly, the straps typically are hooked at either the rear posts, or run up the sides to the vehicle undercarriage. Attaching to the rear posts can, in some situations, cause difficulty in roof removal. Furthermore, straps that run up the sides in front of the doors limit access from the sides. In addition, the stand itself is centered in the rear of the vehicle, thus hampering access to the rear window.
Another known method is to apply a stand at each fender, again preferably with wedges in front of the ‘A’ post. With a good purchase, this can be sufficient stabilization in some cases. With this system, the base strap of one stand is connected to the opposite stand base. Disadvantages with this system include the purchase difficulties mentioned above, and the fact that the bases are not restrained completely. If the vehicle can be restrained from sliding, the lack of sideward base restraint most likely will not be an issue. An advantage to this system is that the passenger compartment is left relatively unobstructed.
Another known technique is to combine the previous two methods, thus providing a stand at both rear fenders and a stand at the rear center, along with the wedge cribbing at the ‘A’ post. Restraint straps can be configured in a few different ways. One strapping configuration is to strap the fender stand bases to each other independent of the rear stand, and to strap the rear stand base to the rear roof posts using ‘J’ hooks. Another method is to strap the rear stand to the fender stands, and then strap the fender stands to the rear post. In addition, the fender stands may be strapped to each other. In this configuration, the straps connected to the rear posts can be moved to the front of the vehicle, thus leaving the passenger compartment unobstructed. The final strap configuration noted above keeps extrication options open, however, the difficulty of finding quick and solid stand engagement remains a problem.
During a vehicle rescue situation, it is often necessary to remove the doors and/or roof of the vehicle to gain access and free patients. When the car is resting normally on its wheels, this is a simple operation with few concerns of any problems. However, when the car is resting on its roof, complete roof and door removal may lead to a failure, bending, or collapse of the floor pan which could injure the occupants and/or rescue team. One known technique for preventing such a problem is to place support stands or cribbing from the ground up to the floor pan of the vehicle, supporting the area from which the doors were removed. One problem with this approach, however, is that the support components cannot be placed until the vehicle parts (doors and/or roof) have been removed. This typically allows for a short time period with no support, which could potentially lead to a collapse. Another problem with the prior supporting technique is that it places equipment in the way of patient access and removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,170, “Adjustable Self Locking Shoring Strut”, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,705, “Vehicle Stabilization and Support Tool” disclose examples of prior art shoring struts, which could be used with the methods of the present invention, if the prior art struts were equipped with appropriately designed end fittings (which are not shown in the patents). However, neither patent discloses a method similar to the methods of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,705, for example, suggests tying the base of a support tool to the vehicle, but uses only one strut and does not discuss where the strap should be attached.
Applying shoring or stabilization stands or rams (whether of wood, metal, plastic, composite or other materials and fixed in length or adjustable by manual, hydraulic, electric, pneumatic, or other means) to an object or structure in the dark, such as at night, requires sufficient lighting. Prior art techniques generally involve a hand-held light unit, such as a flashlight, spotlight or floodlight, held by the user or a second party. Another known method is to have the lighting source attached to the user's head, such as with an elastic strap, or affixed to a helmet or other headgear. Yet another known method is the provision of independent scene lighting, such as, for example, provided by a light support stand or vehicle lights.
U.S. Pub. No. 20030177645 discloses a rescue working tool having a luminescent layer on exposed portions of the tool, and preferably over the entirety of the working tool. The luminescent layer can be fluorescent, but is preferably phosphorescent so that the layer emits light when the tool is used in low light or darkness. This luminescence provides the rescue worker with a visual indication of the location and orientation of the working tool as it is being used. Thus, in the case of a saw blade, the luminescent blade would be visible to the worker, even in total darkness, so the worker can gauge the location and extent of a cutting operation. If the working tool is a drill, the luminescence can provide a visual indication of the depth that the drill bit has penetrated the subject structure.
U.S. Pub. No. 20030043581 discloses a combination vehicle jack and directable light source. The light source provides one or more beams of light, which are independently directable, relative to the base of the jack. The light source may be battery powered, pivotal, flexible, and/or detachable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,289 discloses a motorized scissor jack including upper and lower limit switches. The jack can also include a directionally adjustable light, having an inline switch positioned on the upper structure proximal to the lifting plate, and is connected with the switch system. The adjustable light is configured to provide critical lighting for aligning the lifting plate with the chassis of the vehicle at night or during inclement weather. In one preferred embodiment, the light is a separately battery powered removably positionable assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,724 discloses an automatic lifting device (i.e., a jack) with a light module. A selected component of the jack is attached with a light module providing light at the front lifting end of the jack. The light module is attached to the jack by magnetic attraction, adhesive, clamping, snapping on, pressing in, locating in, embedding, screwing, etc., so that a sufficient illumination is provided at the correct position to the supporting point for an object to be lifted by the jack. The light source of the light module is pivotally connected to the body of the light module. Further, the light source of the light module is freely adjustable, so the orientation of the light source is also adjustable, thus providing the correct illumination at the correct position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,724 discloses a motorized jack for reducing the amount of labor needed to lift up a vehicle. A light source (such as a light bulb or an LED) is provided in the housing adjacent the window portion. This permits shining of light from the light source out of the housing through the window portion to illuminate the area around the lifting head, so that a user can properly position the lifting head under an object in low light conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,230 discloses a portable automatic automobile jack that includes an electrically powered automobile tire nut remover, optionally including a light source, so that the work area is illuminated at night.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,219,903 discloses a portable jack including a system for providing illumination to the work area.
Prior art lighting methods and apparatus require additional time, manpower, space, and often fail to light the desired area sufficiently. However, rescue situations typically demand speedy results. Additionally, space and manpower often are limited. Therefore, the known lighting means suffer from various drawbacks and therefore fail to provide adequate lighting means for rescue situations.